Butterfly Timo Boll ALC

Product information

Brand
Butterfly
Category
Blades
Reviews
23
Last update
Rating
4.83 star(s) 23 ratings
Speed
8.5
Control
8.3
Hardness
7.8
Durability
8.9
User stats

Reviews summary

19
 
83%
4
 
17%
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Overall rating
4.83 star(s) 23 ratings

Item details

The Timo Boll ALC is a 7 ply attacking blade which consists of arylate carbon. This is the current blade Timo Boll uses who is currently World Number 1 (February 2018) which Timo developed with Butterfly. This blade is a update from the original Timo Boll carbon blade, the Timo Boll Spirit. This blade was developed after Timo Boll liked how the Viscaria performed. The wood composition is: Koto, Carbon, Limba, Kiri, Limba, Carbon, Koto.

Latest reviews

Pros
  • spin
  • gears
  • sweetspot
Cons
  • price
Rubbers used: MX-P, Sanwei Target National, T05, Bluestorm Z2
The first thing I noted when I started playing with this blade is that it does not perform very well in close to the table counter or drive rallies from the bh side. This blade's forte is backing up a little and playing topspins with as much quality as you can. It's also surprising to me that despite the crisp and relatively hard feeling you get, the ability to grab and spin the ball is very strong. Opening up is pretty much effortless and the spin you can generate is very high. Still I would not recommend trying to play hard and agressive with the blade as the ball tends to overshoot when you try doing so and that's not what Butterfly designed the blade to do. You have to go for spin and placement over speed. The gears that this blade has are one of its biggest strengths. Even with MX-P on the bh I was able to push quite short to the table or go for a soft spinny flick off a low push and then follow up with a much stronger shot. Another thing I noticed is that the older ALCs (without the hologram) tend to be a bit faster than the newer ones with the hologram (Similar case with Viscaria). The blade pairs very well with Tenergy and MX-P but the Bluestorm felt a bit too slow. The Target was very good on the forehand but I would not recommend using a very hard or tacky Chinese rubber like Hurricane 2. All in all, if you know how to use it, this blade is one that is very hard to go wrong with.
Speed
7.1
Control
6
Hardness
8
Durability
6.5
Pros
  • Spin
  • Fast
  • Block
Cons
  • Needs closing
  • Needs footwork
Spin is good but, dwell time is less than Butterfly Moonbeam AL(not carbon) blade. Thus, you end up with less spin, faster game. It is like you are wasting half of your energy on full stroke. Your racket move has to be precise. Less forgiving... If your legs are not fast enough, you will struggle a lot.

My other problem with this blade is backhand top spin after fh drive, spin or any fast game. I couldn't be successful on backhand top spin as my Arylate blade. Ball always goes out of the table. I need to close the blade. I tried for 4-5 months and still my game no where near with my BTY Moonbeam. So, I am back to it.

I recommend this blade to the people who needs extra power.

edit: OK guys! This blade is very attracting. I accept the fact that it is really hard to resist to not use this blade when you have already. I will give this blade a chance, even if my game worse than BTY Moonbeam AL
Hi TTD. I would like to talk about the equipment am using and why I selected them..I am using timo boll ALC blade with tenergy 05 rubbers.

I selected timo boll ALC because of the speed and control. It’s a very nice blade and it’s suitable for my style,It had improved my game beyond a reasonable doubt. This is my 3rd carbon wood after using gergely tamca 5000 and kreanga carbon. I have been using it for 2yrs and I would like to say it’s really good,fast and it has a great control.

I recommend it for players who likes to block and loop like timo boll..you can always try it with tenergy 05.
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